My (Brad's) 65 Corsa Convertible

[turnert7696]

Hi, my name is Tim Turner. I have posted a couple times recently, but I never formally introduced myself. I'm 18 years old and have owned my 65 Corsa convertible for 3 years. I bought it in November of my sophomore year of high school with money that I saved up from working at a local alpaca farm. The car had been off the road since 1984, still has the '84 inspection sticker, and the engine was pulled out of it. Over the years I've slowly been working on it, but have not yet been able to drive it. I got real close this summer though. I got the engine running about 5 days before I left for college. It was making a strange noise though, like air leaking or something. Turns out i had a hole in my cylinder head! So, I didn't get to drive it before I went to school like I had hoped. My dad then reach out to the local Corvair club, Lehigh Valley PA, for a new set of heads. He got some and had them rebuilt by the time I came home for Thanksgiving. When we went to pull the old heads off, we ended up breaking 2 of the studs in the block...no fun. We tried what we could, but didn't have any drill bits that could drill into the studs, so we had to order some. Well, I had to go back to school, and the car sat for another couple weeks. Now I've been home for a little and we've been inching along once again. We got one of the broken studs pulled out and replaced, but the other is still giving us trouble. So now after all this time, I'm 1 broken stud, and some reassembly, away from finally getting my car running.

The first couple pictures were taken this summer, the last one was around thanksgiving when we moved it into the garage to pull the heads.

[cad-kid]

Welcome Tim!

[classicchevyowner7]

Welcome Tim, I bought my '61 when I was 18.

[Jerry Whitt]

Welcome to the Forum!!

I bought my first Corvair new in 1965, when age was similar to yours.

Noted something in your picture. The car appears to be a Corsa, but in the engine picture, only could see 2 carburetors. The Corsa usually had 4 carburetors or a turbo charger.

Did you switch heads?

[bbodie52]

Welcome to the Corvair Forum!

I'm not quite certain, but I think you may own a 1965 Corsa that is an old friend of mine. I might be wrong, but your location (Pennsylvania), the color of the car, the interior details, etc. are all very similar to the Corvair I sold in 1995.


1965 Corvair Corsa Convertible 140hp 4x1 - Spring 1980 - Base Housing - Hanscom AFB, MA

If it is my old Corsa, I sold it in Lebanon, Pennsylvania in about 1995, but it had been mostly idle since I brought it back from Germany to Southern California in the summer of 1983. At the time it had the original 140 hp 4x1 carburetor engine. It also used to have Recaro custom seats, but I knew that someone had pulled them out. The Ansen Sprint slotted wheels (that my father and I installed in 1970) are gone in your pictures, but I recognized the white knob on the ashtray that my father installed back in 1965 to make it easier for my mother to open the ashtray. If it is my old car the fuel gauge would be in the top row, next to the cylinder head temperature gauge, and a pair of VDO gauges would occupy the bottom row (oil pressure and ammeter). The custom Pioneer AM/FM cassette head unit is one that I purchased at Keesler AFB, Mississippi in he late 1970's. I believe I also recognize the power antenna in the right fender, and the shift knob with the missing ID plate. The original color was Mist Blue Poly., so the color code on the body tag in the engine compartment should be D-2 (for Mist Blue with a black convertible top). I cannot tell for certain in your picture, but the driver's side rear view mirror would be a Talbot "Berlin" model like the one in the above picture and shown below...



If this is my old Corvair, my father purchased it in 1965, and I have only one picture from that time with its original paint...


Warren and son Brad Bodie in 1965, soon after he bought our Mist Blue 1965 Corsa convertible. This Corvair remained in our family from 1965 to 1995. It was later painted dark green (1969), and then red (1980)


Pregnant Tracy standing next to our 1965 Corvair Corsa convertible, parked in front of our apartment in Warner Robins, Georgia (Fall, 1973) — in Warner Robins, Georgia.

There were a lot of family memories in that 1965 Corsa that I foolishly sold. I learned to drive and took my original driver's test in that car in 1969 in San Jose, California. My wife and I drove it from Thousand Oaks, California to our first military assignment at Robins AFB in Warner Robins, Georgia in the summer of 1973 (she was pregnant with our first child). I brought two of our three children home from the hospital in that car after their birth at the base hospital at Robins AFB. After some restoration work, new top, and a new red paint job in Massachusetts we shipped the car to our next assignment near Ramstein AB, West Germany in 1980-1983 and drove it all over Germany during that period.

After bringing it back to the United States in 1983, the car needed more work, but I lacked the funds or the time, so it sat idle from 1984 on. I towed it to new assignments in Austin Texas and later to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, but I was quite busy raising teenagers and preparing to retire form the Air Force in 1996, so lacking time or money I sold the car to my older son's father-in-law, Philip Stark in about 1995. The car was later sold to the owner of an auto repair shop in Lebanon, after which I lost track of it. This may very well be the Corsa you now own!

After 30 years as the original owners, I always wondered what happened to that Corsa convertible. If it is the same car I would love to follow your progress with it. Please keep the progress reports and pictures coming!

[bbodie52]

I noticed a few more indicators that your Corvair is indeed the car that was in my family for about 30 years and I sold almost 20 years ago.

You had mentioned an inspection sticker that expired in 1984. I believe you will find that the three-part green, red and white inspection sticker is not a state inspection sticker. It was in fact a USAREUR inspection sticker that was applied to the car when I had it inspected at Kapaun Air Station, Germany in 1983 (I shipped it back to the U.S. port in Long Beach, California during the summer of 1983). The door arm rest base is also painted black, which I did in Massachusetts because the original plastic chrome had worn and deteriorated. The other close-up pictures below are detail elements I remember from the last time iI saw the car 20 years ago, including the shift knob (my kids had peeled the CORVAIR emblem off of it in California), The 1970's vintage Pioneer radio with digital display, the knob on the ash tray, the electric power antenna, and the Talbot sport mirror.

You will have to forgive the excitement my wife and I feel in seeing this car after owning it for 30 years and then not knowing what happened to it for 20 years. It contains a lot of memories from much of our marriage. If fact, our current 1966 Corsa convertible was purchased for our 40th wedding anniversary in 2012 in part because of the parallels and similarities with our orignal 1965 Corsa. We honestly did not believe we would ever find out what happened to our old Corsa!



By the way, the body in that Corsa was beginning to show some signs of weakness in the door frame area when we sold it. The doors would stick and not open or close properly. They may have been sagging do to weakness in the hinge areas, or the body may have been flexing due to weakness in the body in the door frame area (a common problem — especially with convertibles). It may ultimately need some work in those areas to reinforce and strengthen the body due to age and deterioration.

Incidentally, if you ever decide — for any reason — to sell your Corsa, would you consider giving us an opportunity to purchase it back? If you want to contact us, our address, phone number, etc. is in the About area of our Facebook page. There are also a few more pictures of our past and present Corvairs on that page.

https://www.facebook.com/bbodiefamily

[turnert7696]

Brad,

That's incredible! I have no doubt this is your old car. I've actually seen that one picture you posted with it painted red and thought they looked pretty similar, but assumed its just another red corsa with a black top. I also saw the picture of it with you and your dad when he bought it new and I stared at it for awhile, I love looking at old pictures! I had no idea that it was the same car! I just went out into the garage and took a couple pictures. Sure enough the inspection stickers are like you described, the tag says D2, and there's VDO gauges on the bottom row.

Coincidentally, my brother is actually graduating from the Air Force Academy this May, and he is going to become a pilot.

I will be sure to post more pictures of my progress as time goes on. I have some older ones from when I first bought it that I'll try to post. They're on my mom's old computer. I was always curious why the car came without front seats, but if you had recaro seats, that would explain it. I would really like to drive it for a little before I sell, but when the time comes I'll definitely let you know. The body is still in great shape, with only 2 rust holes about the size of a quarter, 1 behind the driver's side rear wheel, the other is under the passenger side headlight. There's some minor bubbling under the windshield, and i think on the doors, but nothing bad.

The only reason a 110 engine is in it at the moment is because I was going to have the original motor rebuilt, so I figured i could put the 110 in it temporarily.

We will be in touch, and I'll make sure I continue to post more pictures in the near future!

Tim Turner

[turnert7696]

Oh yeah, the alternator is loose because the engine is halfway pulled apart, that's why it is sitting next to the tag in the first picture.

[bbodie52]

...I would really like to drive it for a little before I sell, but when the time comes I'll definitely let you know...

You have just made my day, and my wife is all excited about the possibility of seeing that Corvair in some future time, too! I know you have a lot on your plate right now, with college, career decisions, etc. tugging at you every day. Things change so much during this period in your life! I'm sure your brother feels the same way as he progresses in the Air Force. I spent 24 years as a telecommunications, electronics, and computer systems technician in the Air Force, and new challenges, course corrections and career path adjustments were always there. When I was stationed near Boston and began college with Northeastern University, everything changed again! When you add a wife and children into the mix...

I'm just grateful for the opportunity to see what is happening with our old Corvair. Hopefully my comments will help to provide you with incentives and encouragement. If you decide to move on and sell the Corvair at some point, I am grateful for the opportunity to stand in line!

The only reason a 110 engine is in it at the moment is because I was going to have the original motor rebuilt, so I figured i could put the 110 in it temporarily.

I'm glad that the original 140 hp engine is still with you and wasn't lost to some sand rail or dune buggy somewhere. It was a good engine and served us reliably for decades.

Here is part of what I wrote to Allan Lacki, of the Lehigh Valley Corvair Club a few minutes ago (in response to his message)...

I hope that Tim Turner enjoys the car and does a good job with it. I'm sorry I sold it, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I only mentioned my interest in buying it back because I would be willing to pour much time and money into it now if for some reason he changes his priorities and decides to move on with college, career, etc. I had to do that in 1995 when I was retiring from the Air Force and I now regret it. I never thought I would see that car again until this morning, and I would be remiss if I didn't at least try to get it back!

If your brother becomes an Air Force pilot, does he have any idea regarding the type of aircraft he would try for? We had one pilot in our family: My father-in-law, J. Ned Corman, flew F4U Corsairs with the Marine Corps during World War II when he graduated from Penn State University. He flew with Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington in the "Black Sheep Squadron" (VMF-214), and after the war joined Pan American Airways. When I first met him in 1971 he was retraining to fly Boeing 747's, and he flew them all over the world until he retired in the 1980's.








Tracy's father, Pan American Airways Capt. J. Ned Corman, just prior to his retirement as a Boeing 747 pilot. Daughters Darcy Nickerson and Sue (Sian Lindemann) were there to celebrate his retirement.

I look forward to hearing from you and following your progress.

[sixbanger]

What a great story.

[cad-kid]

Brad,

That's incredible! I have no doubt this is your old car.

Tim Turner

Wow! Great thread!

[turnert7696]

Hi Brad,

You made mine as well! I knew the car was from California, we have some paperwork and the protect o plate, but I had no idea it was all over the country, and in Germany! I'm almost as shocked as you are.

He doesn't know exactly what he wants to fly yet. His only thoughts at the moment are that "fighter jets, or helicopters would be cool." I guess he'll know soon enough.

Quick question about the 140. Is there any internal damage to the motor that made you stop driving it? It was out of the car by the time I got the car. I was told that it was supposed to be resealed by a previous owner, but never got around to it. I planned on having it completely rebuilt while driving with the 110. Well, the 110 is giving us more trouble than we thought and figured if the 140 only needed gaskets, like the guy I bought it from said, I'd rather do that and put it in the car. As long as the internals are okay, I could put the gaskets in, and get it running.

Thanks, Tim

[VairLess]

You fellas really need to make sure you communicate about this Vair through this thread so the rest of us can keep tabs as well.

Great story!

[turnert7696]

Will do!! Thanks!

[classicchevyowner7]

Great story! Wish I knew more about the history of my Corvair! Keep us updated on your progress!

[bbodie52]

Hi Brad,

...Quick question about the 140. Is there any internal damage to the motor that made you stop driving it? It was out of the car by the time I got the car. I was told that it was supposed to be resealed by a previous owner, but never got around to it. I planned on having it completely rebuilt while driving with the 110. Well, the 110 is giving us more trouble than we thought and figured if the 140 only needed gaskets, like the guy I bought it from said, I'd rather do that and put it in the car. As long as the internals are okay, I could put the gaskets in, and get it running...

The engine is fine as far as I know. The last time I drove the car was from Kaiserslautern, Germany to the shipping port in Bremerhaven (about 400 miles) without any trouble. The car was shipped to the port in Long Beach, California, and because I didn't have it registered to drive in California and did not have an extra driver, I opted to tow it home to Camarillo, California using my father's El Camino and a tow bar we already owned. I did some suspension work and the car needed a new exhaust system, but mostly it sat idle in California. Then I spent a year in South Korea, and then returned and towed the car behind a Ryder truck to our next assignment in Austin, Texas. The car continued to idle away the years in our Texas garage, since I lacked time and money to work on it. It then followed us home to our next assignment at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, where it took up residence in our new Lebanon garage. I was working a second job while I was still in the Air Force, and was job hunting and preparing for the transition from my military career of 24 years to a civilian job. The car had received zero attention since our return from Germany in 1983, so in 1995 I finally gave up and sold it to my son's father-in-law, who had expressed interest in it.

Since the heads have never been off, the rings are original, etc., a compression test may give you some idea of the condition of the valves, cylinders, etc. It did not smoke or use excessive oil in Germany, and there was no knocking or signs of connecting rod or crankshaft problems. The bottom end is probably fine, but the cylinders, valve guides, and valves may be a little tired. I replaced the clutch in 1980 (loose flywheel rivets) before shipping the car to Germany, so it is low-mileage. The drive train, transmission, and differential never caused any trouble, with the exception of the right-rear wheel bearing assembly, which started to squeak in Germany. I replaced it with a used wheel bearing assembly that my father mailed to me in Germany. The odometer in the speedometer failed a long time ago, which is somewhat common in Corvairs. I have attached an article on Corsa speedometer repair, if you decide to take a look. But the odometer-related parts that wear out may be made of "unobtainium".